Bloggers Anonymous

This was not an easy decision. It took time and prayer. My concerns were many. While it may be too early to reflect on those concerns, I will stay true to my afflicted spirit. I will project, over-analyze, and judge.

The online community

I’ve been slow to warm up to social media—a real doubting Thomas. My concern was I couldn’t benefit from an electronic community like a could from my geographic community. So why try?

What I’ve found is a very supportive community: bloggers welcomed me, tweeters offered condolences the day I lost a friend. My geographical recovery community now seems so small in comparison to the global recovery community. That is a good thing—a reminder that I am nowhere never close to alone. A whole new network comes with me in my pocket. And thus surfaced another concern.

Recovery priorities

Would blogging and tweeting become more important than the grunt work of recovery that keeps me sober?

I pray it doesn’t. So far, it has reinvigorated my recovery. I’ve gone to more meetings, wanting to keep closer to the solution and stay honest. My appetite for the message has increased. But my appetite for anything is out of control, hence:

Blog Obsession

Would this blog become an obsession I can’t control?

It has. But, what else would you expect from an addict? I’m thinking about it constantly, wanting to jump on, check comments, improve layout, tweet thoughts. The real question is how can this behavior surprise me. It didn’t surprise my wife—”what did you expect?” She asked me yesterday.

Of my many obsessions, this seems to be a relatively healthy one. Instead of refreshing my bank account summary or trolling for inconsequential sports news, I am surfing sites I can relate to and thinking about my sober life. It’s like maintaining a caffeine craving in recovery: there are far greater vices.

Anonymity

How would this pursuit affect principled recovery?

This subject remains murky for me. I’ve done a lot of due diligence on the topic, and I’m doing the best I can with it.

I enjoy ‘outing’ myself to colleagues and neighbors. I find it a relief. But I don’t want people to discover I’m alcoholic on the internet; I want to be able to tell them in person. I’ve discovered early in the blogger’s journey, that normal people aren’t trolling the internet to find and expose me. That’s the selfishness of my disease. It’s akin to ordering a coke at a bar and worrying that everyone will demand to hear my life story.

In summary, after dipping my toes in the blogosphere, the blogosphere has replied, “Come on in, the water’s fine.”

Out of respect for my Alanon program I took my picture down from my blog, and I only use my first name, but it is my real first name. Out of respect for my family, I don’t use their names…except for one daughter who is so her mother’s child and is willing to lay bare her soul to the world, or allow me to do it for her. LOL I don’t care about being anonymous personally. Like you, I share often that I have a program that I love and work diligently, but I protect others anonymity fiercely. Again, so glad you are here and liking it! Blogging has gotten me through many a rough patch, along with my real life friends and meetings. I hope you find the same.

This is helpful. My real name is the URL. It was a gift from my mom/step-father and I decided to use it for the blog. So, I know it’s not ‘perfect’ but just trying to do my best with it. It’s great to have people like you Annette to usher me into this world. I really appreciate your posting about my blog. I think it’s responsible for all the views so far, HAHA. And I appreciate it.

My first blog, about my son’s severe addiction, was way to open about my entire family. I even posted pictures on it. My son said he didn’t mind, but I feel very bad about the graphic way I put his life out there. I won’t do that to family members again. I have no right to speak about their feelings, let alone post pics of them. Many parent bloggers did it, because we felt like friends. But other people will stumble on your blog, not just your “friendly” commenters!

You will feel your way to what is right with experience. I have also seen many bloggers grow as writers! Like most things, the more you write the better you get. Not that you aren’t a good writer, just sayin’:)

Welcome. I blogged for a long time under a pseudonym. I’ve just gotten a new blog up and running and I use my maiden name. My twelve-step program says that I can mention the programs’ name if I don’t use my real name. If I use my real name, then I must refer to it as my twelve-step program. My son is a recovering alcoholic and addict. That is why I initially sought recovery. Now, I continue to seek recovery to figure out who I am and how the effects of generations past have informed my way of thinking. Keep writing. It has been a source of comfort for a very long time.

I follow the same clear terms that you do about name use. Thanks for reading and replying! I will keep writing. I find when I’m writing I feel the most wholly me. And I will go check your sight out now!

Just discovering this today, Mark! But we’re Twitter buddies, so all is well. <3. I understand your concerns, coming from a 12-step perspective, but I believe you'll find the benefits far outweigh the consequences.

Laura- thank you for visiting. You are so welcome here! Twitter buddies is one thing, it’s another to pour your heart on the screen the way you do. I was happy to discover more about you through Dan’s T-I-R. I love people who wear there recovery on their sleeves (pun intended). I’m working on that part of it. When you’re day job is teaching high school boys, you never know ‘what the parents might think.’